This is the Brief from Brussels, a daily round up of the top stories from across Europe.

In today’s edition, the European Commissioner for competition hits back at Apple after the tech giant’s CEO branded the EC ruling on its tax affairs in Ireland “maddening” and politically motivated. An EC probe concluded that Apple owed 13 billion euros to the Irish government.

Also, we look ahead to Sunday in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel faces yet another political battle. The anti-immigrant AfD party, which has been gaining support over the last year, is tipped to win more votes than Merkel’s CDU party in a key regional election.